IN THE REVIEW: September 2012

WHAT SIT S AT THE END – As the sun cut beneath rain-dropping clouds Sept. 21, a vivid rainbow, with lesser double, remained over Hyannis and other parts of Barnstable for 45 minutes or so.

It takes an effort to raise a child, and maybe it takes a village too

NEWS – As children return to school, some teachers may find that a few of their students from last year are reading better than expected. That might be because in libraries and other venues across the town, patient volunteers took it upon themselves to spend time helping children, some having previous reading difficulty in school, to read better and actually learn to like it. One case in point was the program at the Hyannis Public Library, held twice weekly for an hour. It was directed by Dianne James, a former 30-year veteran public schoolteacher who, after she retired, also taught GED courses to inmates at the Barnstable County House of Correction and worked for a time at the U.N. in New York. In all, there were about 21 children enrolled in this program, an offshoot of Barnstable’s Saving Our Youth Task Force. The sessions were divided between morning gatherings at the library and afternoon sittings at the town’s newest facility, the Hyannis Youth and Community Center.

Assembly receptive to finance director concept

NEWS – A proposal seeking to create a new administrative services and finance department for Barnstable County found receptive ears at an Assembly of Delegates committee. The standing Committee on Governmental Regulations reviewed a proposal from Yarmouth Delegate Spyro Mitrokostas to separate out certain finance and administrative functions from the county administrator.

Mannal looking forward

NEWS – Shortly after Brian Mannal arrived at Gringo’s Mexican Restaurant in Hyannis on Sept. 6, he was told he had a phone call on the eatery’s main line. A few minutes later, a stunned-looking Mannal appeared in the doorway. “We won,” he announced to the intimate crowd of family and friends. For a split second all was silent; then the cheering began as Mannal repeated himself several times for good measure. The candidate for 2nd Barnstable State Representative had just defeated 14-year incumbent Demetrius Atsalis. The phone call had been Atsalis conceding the race and offering congratulations to a surprised Mannal. “I didn’t even write a victory speech,” he admitted.

Steel from WTC strengthens Hyannis

NEWS – Here was a piece of the sky, brought down to earth by violence but now to be treasured as a reminder of duty’s obligations. The block of steel from the World Trade Center sat on a display table created for it during the 11th annual Hyannis Fire Department 9/11 memorial service. “Touch it,” Chief Harold Brunelle invited the 75 people gathered outside the station, adding, “however you take it in.”

Single Cape 911 center for Cape finds support

NEWS – With the Cape’s police and fire chiefs on board, at least conceptually, to pursue centralized dispatch and 911 services, Barnstable County is moving forward to develop such a system. In an update to the county commissioners, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Sean O’Brien said that the Cape fire and police chiefs’ association have endorsed the concept of centralized dispatch. That’s a shift in the politics of the issue, which has seen police chiefs historically resistant to the idea of losing their dispatch operations. O’Brien told the county commissioners that the study committee is looking at different models, operations and governance structures, as well as the possibility for grant funds.

Barnstable grad gets top football nod

SPORTS – For some, football is a game to be played and enjoyed come the end of summer and the days of back-to-school time. For others, football is a passion, a sport unlike any other, where talent takes you far, and skills even farther. Isaiah Voegeli falls into the latter category, and at the start of his senior season with Merrimack College the starting wide receiver was dubbed a preseason first team Div. 2 All-American, one of just two in the Northeast. “That means, as far as I know, it’s the highest athletic accolade you can get in college sports other than the Heisman,” Voegeli said.

Raiders dunk the Dolphins

SPORTS – The Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins might have been the defending Super Bowl champs in Div. 2A, but it was the Barnstable Red Raiders who earned their time in the spotlight Sept. 14, defeating the Dolphins in a 55-14 blowout. What’s better? The Raiders did it on their home turf.

An idea grows on West Main Street

NEWS – Sturgis Charter Public School started as an idea. After some initial struggles, it seemed to be an idea that worked, as evidenced by a long waiting list. Sturgis West Charter Public School started as an idea, too: a decision not to double enrollment from 400 to 800 to accommodate that list but instead to create another school. The ideas didn’t stop there. Why not a modular building, available at a fraction of the cost of traditional construction? Those ideas and more came together Sept. 15 as Sturgis Charter Public School Executive Director Eric Hieser snipped a ribbon to officially open Sturgis West on West Main Street in Hyannis.

Anxious to spread the word about Pay-As-You-Throw

NEWS – The Renewable Energy Commission is hoping for an energetic response from the town council and town manager to its recommendations for disposing of the town’s solid waste and recycling. The clock is ticking on the town’s contract with Covanta, the owner of the SEMASS waste-to-energy incinerator, and the cost of getting rid of trash will certainly skyrocket. The REC’s plan calls for a town-wide curbside trash pick-up combined with a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) system involving purchase of marked bags for trash. As people recycle more, the thinking goes, they would put less trash in the bags for incineration, thus reducing the cost for disposal at SEMASS or another facility.

Grade 4-5 school closer to having new moniker

NEWS – What’s in a name? Judging by the potential new name for the Barnstable School District’s grade 4-5 building, everyone. If a possible new moniker for the school formerly known as the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School is approved, it will reflect that the 4-5 building is where Barnstable’s students unite. The name that proved most popular among those 90 entries is Barnstable United Elementary School.

Assembly seeks more separation for electric groups

NEWS – A series of resolutions seeking further separation between the Cape Light Compact and Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative on a number of levels found mixed support at the Assembly of Delegates, with three of five members passing. Approved were resolutions asking the Assembly speaker to work with the county commissioners to eliminate overlapping representation by county staff and officials in the organizations; pursuit of bylaws to require separate legal counsel and timely financial reports; and pursuit of an Open Meeting and Public Records law training program for county boards, committees and affiliated groups, among others.

Mosquito project to County: Take us, we’re yours

NEWS – The Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project remains strongly interested in becoming part of Barnstable County, and met with county officials to pursue options. The county commissioners took no votes but were supportive of the idea moving forward. County Administrator Mark Zielinski said he would work with members of the project’s board of commissioners and staff to identify the nuts and bolts of how such a transfer could occur.

Puritan launches “Chatham Chino Company” brand

BUSINESS – Nearly a century ago, before it was a purveyor of stylish summer clothing, Puritan Cape Cod was a supplier of uniforms to, among others, Coast Guard Station Chatham. In fact, that sideline may have kept the business alive during the Great Depression and World War II, say the descendants of the founder and current owners of the company. Recognizing that connection to the town's heritage, the company this month launched a new brand, Chatham Chino Company. Its signature product is the Chatham Chino, casual men's pants inspired by those Coast Guard uniforms that founder Abe Penn outfitted station personnel with back in 1925.

Spring could see Route 6A sidewalk paving

NEWS – It’s possible that a section of sidewalk heading out of Barnstable Village could see repairs and reconstruction in the spring. That was the indication from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation at the Sept. 25 meeting of the Route 6A Committee, held at Sturgis Library. Bill Travis of MassDOT’s District 5 offices said that there is an existing state contract for sidewalks under which the Barnstable work could be done. The first section to be repaved would be the stretch between the Trayser Museum and Commerce Road, a heavily used area.

Clean bill of health for expanded CCH ER

NEWS – The red lights of ambulances will be arriving at an expanded Cape Cod Hospital emergency center if the Cape Cod Commission heeds the green light the county agency’s staff flashed for the project . The proposed 26,500-square-foot addition will be considered for a Developmental of Regional Impact Project of Community Benefit Hardship Exemption when the Commission meets Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. in the Assembly of Delegates chamber at the county complex in Barnstable Village. During a 1993 expansion (which received a DRI hardship exemption), Cox said, the emergency room was built to handle 60,000 visits a year. Today, that number is over 90,000. Seventy-four treatment spaces, some in hallways, are in use. “The care is excellent,” Cox stressed, but does not allow for modern standards of patient privacy and comfort.

WASTEWATER: Key arguments made in federal suit

NEWS – In significant filings last week, the Conservation Law Foundation and Environmental Protection Agency threw down their best arguments in the two-year-old federal lawsuit seeking cleanup of the Cape’s embayments. The Conservation Law Foundation seeks to have the Cape’s 130,000 individual septic systems, wastewater treatment plant and stormwater systems classified as point sources of pollution under the federal Clean Water Act. This would change the classification of how nitrogen from these systems is accounted for and change the regulatory framework for cleaning up the Cape’s estuaries. EPA said that CLF could make such claims on an individual basis for each septic system or treatment plant, but cannot make a blanket re-categorization of all such systems on Cape Cod.

Streetlight conversion: a bright idea?

NEWS – The quality of light always changes with the seasons, but that natural transition will be echoed by technology this autumn as the Cape Light Compact conducts a streetlight replacement demonstration. Hoping to save towns and fire districts that own their streetlights on both energy and maintenance, the Compact wants to retrofit the standard high-pressure sodium light “cobra-head” fixtures with LED technology. A demonstration project at four sites, possibly including Phinney’s Lane in the Barnstable Fire District, is in the works for October or November.

MCAS on even keel; scores largely unchanged from 2011

NEWS – As students settle in to the 2012-2013 school year, educational administrators across the Barnstable School District are analyzing the recently released 2012 MCAS scores. Across the grades, Barnstable students’ scores remained largely unchanged. In grade three, the number of students placing in the Advanced category increased slightly from 2011, as did those in the Warning/Failing area. The Grade 10 MCAS scores, however, which students must pass in order to graduate, remained relatively stable.

Bids out for Centerville affordable homes

NEWS – The Barnstable Housing Authority accepted bids for construction of 12 units of multi-family affordable rental housing on Stage Coach Road in Centerville. The development, pegged at $2.4 million, is supported by $1.2 million from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Rental housing is a recognized need in a town where significant second-home ownership limits options for renters, including those saving to buy their first home.

New stage is star attraction

NEWS – The stage is set in Barnstable Village. Literally. Some civic-minded residents and groups gathered their forces to build a stage on the hill that leads from the county parking lot up to what used to be the jail (now county offices). The new construction has a concrete floor and will have a roof after its first event: a dedication ceremony and a concert by the All Worn Out Jug Band held, Oct. 6.